Keep Your Spirits Up

I've run across three articles at Pajamas Media that have a spirit of encouragement about them, and so I wanted to share them with you.

"How Do You Fight Obama's New New Deal?" by Jennifer Rubin (offers some ideas of useful economic changes that would have a far more positive effect than the bailouts and other government interference)

"Life at New Animal Farm Won't Be All That Bad" by Victor Davis Hanson (a look at the more positive press coverage we can expect on all topics once Barack Obama becomes President of the United States)

"How George Washington Saved Christmas--And America" by Rick Moran (a reminder that we have been through much tougher times in America's past and that we overcame those)

There are a variety of ways to develop a more positive outlook on life, whether it concerns the economy, politics, war and peace, or whatever problems are staring us in the face. Being negative helps nothing, but being positive frees us to start thinking about what we can do to help make things better.

A Christmas Day Post

Merry Christmas to all!

I haven't been able to decide what to write about for awhile, but as I've been perusing the internet today, I've run across some articles that I recommend.

"Be Not Afraid: Christian Resistance and the Meaning of Christmas" by Joseph Morrison Skelly (some thoughts on Christmas at a time when there are those who would wipe out religion)

"A Tale of Two Pundits: Sowell vs. Huffington" by Roger Kimball (This one is about economics rather than Christmas, but still, it's an important piece.)

"Utopia" by Peter Ferrara (an interesting idea for letting everyone have their way politically and economically)

"The True Spirit of Giving" by Ken Connor (some thoughts on what Christmas giving really should mean)

I know that times are tough economically (and in other ways, too), but I hope that we will budget for charitable giving. There are many good places for your charity dollars (and don't forget that you can give of your time, as well) such as your church and nationally known charities that you can trust. There is one organization that particularly appeals to me because the giving is a hand up and not a handout. That is Heifer International, which gives animals to families and teaches them to care for them and use them as a basis for growing prosperity. They also make microloans that help people begin and sustain small businesses, again using those loans as a basis for growing prosperity. I've provided a link so you can read about this organization and decide if it is something you want to support. Research any charity you are considering so you can decide where you want your money and effort to go. There may be perfectly good local charities that aren't so well known that would be worthy of your donations--you just need to spend a little time looking into them to be sure your efforts to help aren't wasted.

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Economics

The economic crises that Americans face are on everyone's mind these days, and with good reason. These crises affect everyone in their day-to-day lives.

One good article is "The Pilgrims' Financial Crisis" by Peter Ferrara at The American Spectator. Mr. Ferrara begins by recounting the problems encountered by our early settlers in Plymouth and Virginia. He then shows how a socialist organization of these early colonies failed and how only a turn to capitalism and freedom to produce one's own goods allowed the colonies to prosper. At the end of his article, Mr. Ferrara summarizes the solutions that we need for today.

I cannot emphasize enough how much a study of history, both American and world, would help us today in solving our problems and in avoiding prolonging or worsening said problems.

Peter Ferrara has another good article on economics, what has failed in the past, and what will help the most now. It is titled "Stimulus Malpractice and the Trillion Dollar Deficit" and is also found at The American Spectator. This article is a review of more recent economic policies in America and what worked and what failed. Again, he includes an outline of what we need to do now to turn things around economically.

Thomas Sowell has an article at Jewish World Review which summarizes the situation and alludes to historic "solutions" that solved nothing and, in fact, prolonged the Great Depression. The article is titled "'Jolting' the Economy". Also at Jewish World Review, Walter Williams has an article titled "Trade vs. Protectionism" which offers a look at that particular portion of America's economy. Dr. Williams also has an article at the same website titled "Evil Concealed by Money" which looks at socialism in a practical, easy-to-understand way. He also takes a look at capitalism in "Capitalism and the Financial Crisis".

I hope that by reading these articles, with information laid out clearly by intelligent men of common sense, you will gain a better understanding of what works and what doesn't, and in which direction America (and the world, for that matter) needs to move.

We do not need to sink.

Life Goes On

It's impossible to comment on all the political and economic actions that have been taken recently, and those that are being contemplated. It boggles the mind.

I think it would be a good thing if every American would read the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Federalist Papers. We need to remind ourselves of what America is all about. I have linked to Yale Law School's Avalon Project, but there are a number of good sources for these types of historical documents on the internet.

Now, more than ever, we need a smaller government with much less interference in our lives and businesses. It was government interference that got us into the mess we're in today. It was not capitalism or conservatism or any of the other popular scapegoats. Stop the bailouts, stop high taxes, stop forced charity, stop over-regulation, stop judicial activism, and stop a Congress and an Executive Branch that thinks they can ignore the Constitution.

I need to stop myself--I'm getting into a rant! That brings me to another problem. It is so easy to criticize and rant and otherwise be negative. What we (I) should do instead is discuss positive things that we need to do to preserve and expand the "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" that is America. We can start by becoming familiar with our founding documents, as I noted in the second paragraph above. We also need to learn American history and government. You need to select your reading material carefully in order to get accurate information. Look at older books on American history and government, and look at a variety of books and websites. Variety will at least show you discrepancies which you can research further.

Recently a study was released that showed that Americans in general do not know much about civics and how government is supposed to work. We cannot depend on schools at any level to correct this lack of knowledge, so we need to teach ourselves. That link reports on the study and also contains a link to the 33 questions that were asked so that you can test yourself.

I think that a lot of the problems we have in America are due to lack of knowledge by the American people and by those we elect to represent us. Self-education in civics, government, and history can only help. I know I also have a lot more to learn. A lot of well-meaning folk nevertheless have wrongheaded ideas about solutions, so an openess to learning truth and to thinking things through is also important.

We all need more patience, with ourselves and with others. It's easy to get fired up about something, but we aren't always making ourselves understood when we get carried away. I know I get wound up because America is so very important, not just to those who live here, but to the world. I can't promise I won't get wound up about something again, but I'll try to be calm and clear!

It's difficult to express what I want to say here. There are those who think all things are equal and it is just a matter of voting to do Plan A or Plan B. The thing is that all things are NOT equal. Truth is truth. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. I don't know how people get to the place of thinking that all is equal. I personally blame indoctrination in public schools, but there are other factors as well, such as biased media (and yes, my blog is biased, too, but at least it is biased toward truth, although I am sure there are those who will say that is just my opinion--more of that "all things are equal" stuff). I don't know if we can ever get down to a real discussion of real issues, but I hope we will continue to try.